Re: How does it work? By: Brysing Moderator / Adept
Post # 2 Oct 05, 2014
Why bother telling them anything? Some will understand. Some will not.Some will condemn you some will not.
If they ask your religion, tell them you don't have one yet. Then listen to them all trying to convince you to believe what they believe! It's great fun!
To clarify what Brysing has said about being a Pagan, these days when one uses the word Pagan it refers to a number of Neo-Pagan religions such as Asatru, Celtic Reconstruction, Druidry, Hellenismos, Heathenry, Kemetic, Slavic Reconstruction, Wicca, Witchcraft, and more. The term Pagan is an umbrella term that covers all of these various religions but is not itself a religion.
Of course when one is seeking which of the many Neo-Pagan religions draws you it's fine to just say that you're Pagan. And some people never choose one of the established paths and prefer to follow their own particular set of beliefs and practices So I guess they could simply continue to use the word Pagan to describe what they believe.
But I see in your profile that you mentioned an interest in Wicca. A good place on tis site to start learning about Wicca is in the Wicca Forum. You might want to start out with the thread on "What Wicca Is and Isn't" at http://www.spellsofmagic.com/read_post.html?post=637268 And then you might want to check out "Main Wicca Posts" at http://www.spellsofmagic.com/read_post.html?post=580909 That particular thread has a number of useful sub-threads.
If you have specific questions on Wicca I'd be happy to try to answer them for you as I've been a practicing Wiccan for 30 years.
"Just recently became pagan"? Well as others have said, Pagan is a term, not a path. Personally I don't care what you call yourself as long as you have a set of beliefs, morals, and rules you agree with. Regarding telling people, do you have a reason to? I mean, if you're serious, your parents/guardians need to know if you're under a certain age, but otherwise its nobodys business.
I wouldn't tell anyone including your parents, just yet. You might wish to tell them you are doing some soul searching but haven't decided on anything yet. I say this because it appears you discovered an article saying how there are Pagans walking among us and you decided to join without much else. Not to offend, just my view. It's fine if you are that new, everyone has been their, but I would study a bit more before making a lifelong commitment. Make a list of beliefs and a list of reasons why you wish to be pagan. Example 'I want to cast spells and fly' next step should be to study and research to discover if your views are Pagan or not. [Helpful tip, magick cannot make you fly, its fantasy not reality] as with your beliefs, try to find a path that preaches similar views. Or, try researching religious paths associated with a culture you feel interested in like Celtic or Norse.
Pagan is a rather large umbrella you could get lost in, so try to research, and understand what you believe and don't believe. These beliefs will change as you grow, but you can use them as a starting point.
Terminology aside, the original question about telling people, it's tricky business. Evaluate it by person. For instance, I told my friends, but omitted that detail from my hyper-Christian neighbors. Some situations would be unsafe, but if you trust them, I'd say go ahead and tell them. Good luck.
